Update in the story of Bolshoi director acid attack

>> by Andrew Guilbert
The person responsible for last January’s acid attack on Bolshoi Director Sergei Filin has apparently been revealed. In a taped confession released by Moscow police, one of the Bolshoi’s star dancers, Pavel Dmitrichenko, admits he was responsible for the attack that left the forty-two-year-old Filin with severe burns to his eyes and face. “I organized that attack but not to the extent that it occurred,” said Dmitrichenko in the police footage. Two alleged accomplices are believed to have aided the dancer: Yuri Zarutsky, who allegedly threw the acid in Filin’s face, and Andrei Lipatov, who allegedly drove the get away vehicle. Moscow police believe that Dmitrichenko told Zarutsky about what time the director would leave the theatre on the night of the attack. Police say they became suspicious of Dmitrichenko when they discovered he had been in close contact with an unemployed convict, had purchased SIM cards for mobile phones under an alias and had inquired about Filin’s schedule. Bolshoi spokeswoman Katerina Novikova said that Filin had been informed of the situation but that the theatre would not comment until after the trial. Dmitrichenko, who joined the Bolshoi in 2002, had danced in the company’s production of Swan Lake as well as performing the titular role in Ivan the Terrible. He was scheduled to perform in the Bolshoi’s Sleeping Beauty on March 16th. The New Yorker’s David Remnick has written a detailed account of the scandal at the Bolshoi called "Danse Macabre". It is available for reading online here. Read Andrew Guilbert’s earlier news item here.